Review Summary: Stabbing Westward's first album featuring much more industrial influence than on future albums, but also featuring less of the catchiness that would come about later.
Stabbing Westward were one of many bands that came about around the same time Nine Inch Nails was becoming famous. A time when every label thought industrial might be the next big thing, and were signing anything with a similar sound – Skinny Puppy, Front 242, Ministry, etc. were all signed to majors during this time. Due in large part to the media hype some accused Stabbing Westward of being NIN clones, but Stabbing Westward never shared much in common with them. What Stabbing Westward provided was industrial synths and beats combined with memorable choruses more in line with mainstream rock than industrial (in varying ratios, depending on the album).
On this, their debut album, they tend to lean more towards the industrial side of things, complete with visceral shouted choruses, and a prominent groove that would be lost on future releases. There are a few reasons why there is more of a groove on
Ungod than on later albums. The main reason is due to their guitar player (and main songwriter at that time) leaving after this album’s release. The way he approached songwriting was to make sure the synths and beats were prominently displayed while letting the guitar parts take a slightly lesser role. This approach would pretty much be reversed on their subsequent release,
Wither, Blister, Burn, and Peel. Being locked firmly into the industrial rock genre on this release, the general mood of the album is also darker than future albums with a lot of lyrics dealing with loss, depression, and even suicide.
Ungod begins with a slow building intro that contains some synth and the anguished vocals of Chris Hall. As the intro is still fading away, the album breaks into the first song, “Control” which is catchy mainly due to the fact that the chorus is only eight words long and repeated over and over. In case it isn’t obvious, while being catchy, it doesn’t actually make for a good song. The next song, and first single from the album, “Nothing”, does a lot better job of being both catchy and good. It starts with some screeching, distorted guitar playing, and pounding beats before the guitars drop away leaving a grooving bass line to introduce the vocals. Right before the chorus comes in, all the music drops out and we’re left with an industrial beat and Chris singing “
I don’t want to believe in you, I can’t believe in you”. Again, the chorus is just a simple sentence repeated a few times, but this time it never gets to the point of redundancy.
Although the song, "Nothing", was their single for the album, most people would probably recognize the song "Violent Mood Swings" more, as it is one of the best songs on the album and was also featured on the movie
Clerks in a slightly remixed form. It features large amounts of distortion and feedback, Chris Hall’s anguished and pissed-off vocals, and a simple, catchy (yet angry) chorus. It also has the largest amount of industrial influence of any of the songs; featuring distorted beats, processed vocals, and some great synth. The main reason "Violent Mood Swings" was not the single was probably due to the amount of swearing, as well as its uncompromising anger.
In addition to the aggressive songs and the tracks that seem to be built for radio, there are also slower, more brooding, ones such as "Red on White" and "Can’t Happen Here," which are both almost entirely synth driven, with "Can’t Happen Here" being the darker and more aggressive of the two due to the rhythmic synth, as well as the ending when the whole band breaks in for the last few moments while Chris Hall yells, “Just can’t happen here” over and over.
Ungod is definitely worth trying to track down if you’re into the industrial rock of bands such as
The Hunger,
God Lives Underwater,
Gravity Kills or other similar bands. Despite a few songs that might be a little sub par, it is still one of the better mixtures of both industrial and mainstream rock. For those that have only heard Stabbing Westward’s more radio friendly songs on future releases, this album could be worth finding if you thought that they were a little too safe and friendly.
